Moving in the morning

We started off our day by going out to breakfast with Lonnie and Melba at a place called “Crazy Otto’s”. It is here in Acton,CA just on the other side of Hwy 14. Good breakfast… and huge portions! We had to get a to-go box for about half the food.

After we were back at the park it was time to start packing up as we head out tomorrow morning. I did laundry and some cleaning, Dave gathered up and packed up stuff. About 4:00 we sat down outside to relax a bit and Lonnie & Melba came over. Melba brought over bbq pork with hot mustard and sesame seeds for dipping to go with our wine. It was another fun evening of stories and laughs.

Photos: Taken at Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon yesterday

Pleasant Day

This morning, after we got back from our walk, we sat outside with our coffee (or cocoa in my case) . It was very peaceful and pleasant with our campfire going and a light drizzle hitting the awning. A nice way to start the day.

Since we are heading out Wednesday I thought it would be a good day to go stock up on groceries. We went in to the Walmart Superstore in Palmdale, CA and picked up enough to get us through a week of meals. We also stopped at Trader Joe’s (yes Marilyn we picked up a bottle of that wine you recommended) and got some goodies….Dave really likes the honey sesame covered almonds and I like the cinnamon almonds.

The sun came out this afternoon and it was beautiful. Laura stopped by and we chatted for a while. Later Dave & I were sitting outside having a glass of wine, enjoying the late afternoon, when Melba and Lonnie came over to join us. We had cheese & crackers with our wine and lots of fun conversation.

Photos:
Taken in Soledad Canyon Park today

A long walk and out to dinner

I worked on the video I’m making of our travels this morning. After lunch Dave, Cheye and I went for a long walk to the other end of the park. We found the fishing pond and picnic area which we hadn’t seen before.

Once we got back to the trailer we turned on the TV to watch the pre-race shows and the Nascar race. We had just started watching the race when Ted & Laura stopped by and invited us to join them for Mexican food at a local restaurant so off we went. (we taped the race) We had a fun time.

On our way back to the campground we came across a Class C parked perpendicular across the right hand lane of the road. There was a motorcycle laying in the bar pit and we though maybe the RV had hit a motorcycle…ended up the RV had a front motorcycle carrier and the carrier bent. We stopped and helped out doing out good deed for the day.

Photos:
Taken on today's walk at Soledad Canyon Preserve down by the fishing pond
Video:
Also views taken on today's walk at Soledad Canyon Preserve down by the fishing pond

Bicycle Race

We forgot a few items when grocery shopping the other day so after lunch we decided to drive into the Acton market. On the way we noticed a helicopter that was circling around at a low altitude. When we got to the Ranger Station they told us the bicycle race - Amgen Tour of California - passed by here on the road just above the campground. Lance Armstrong is in that race! While driving towards Acton we got to an intersection where there was a blockade for the race. We thought all the racers had already gone by but I did catch a quick 4 seconds of some racers with the Flip Video….since the video is sooooo small and the action sooooo quick I thought I’d add this photo to point out where you should look…





Bummer we didn’t know about it, we would have taken the good camera and gone a little earlier!

An Afternoon Outing

Most of today we hung out at the trailer. Both Dave & I took Cheye for walks, we watched some of the NASCAR practice runs on TV and computed.

This afternoon we went back in to Palmdale, CA for a little shopping and dinner. Dave needed to find a new heavy coat as his got ruined a while back when he was changing a in-line fuel filter. We ran across a Burlington Coat Factory and found one there. We had dinner at an unremarkable restaurant, but we left full. Can’t always discover great restaurants I guess!

Photos: Taken on our walk yesterday near Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon

Nothing particular

Not a lot going on the last couple days here near Acton, CA. The weather has cleared up, it got up in the 60’s today with a breezy wind. We’ve been hanging out at the park not doing anything particular.

Yesterday was laundry day and I met a nice couple that live near Placerville, CA which is where we went to do laundry while camping at Thousand Trails Ponderosa… how apropos that I met them in the laundry room! Nice people and full of info on different Thousand Trails parks.

This afternoon Dave, Cheye and I took a long walk around most of the park including a dry riverbed area that runs along the side of the park. We found a little creek hidden among the sagebrush, rocks and juniper. Cheye was quite happy with the find and waded down the stream for a fair distance. On our way back we saw our neighbors (that are also from the Yakima Valley in Washington) and they invited us over for a glass of wine. We had a great visit and found out about some good wines to pickup when we are back in the Yakima Valley!

Photos and Video:
All taken around Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon

Clearing up

Today was a much nicer day weather-wise. A little cloudy and a few sprinkles but nothing to complain about.

We were expecting mail so we drove into Acton to the Post Office and from there we went over to Palmdale, CA to pick up some groceries. Well…in Palmdale there is a Best Buy and Barnes & Noble so after browsing through those stores we have a few new DVD’s too.

This afternoon we took a nice long walk around part of the park which felt good after being cooped up in the trailer all day yesterday. It’s a good sized park, kind of long and skinny in shape. We have seen lots of bunnies, squirrels and hawks and have heard coyotes. We hear there is even a bobcat that sometimes wanders through, hopefully we will catch a glimpse of it sometime while we are here.

Photos:
Top: some pretty yellow birds here at Soledad Canyon park, Dave took that photo a couple days ago when we had a beautiful sunny day
Bottom: A bunny here in the park
Video:
A little bit of Acton, CA and some views of the park.

Stormy

Well, the weather forecasters were partly right with their winter storm warning here in Acton, CA. All day it has been rainy with gusty winds, some hail but no snow or thunderstorms. The sun did break out a couple times for about 5 minutes only to be covered by big black clouds spewing rain.

Consequently it has been an inside day doing cross stitching, reading, watching DVD’s and listening to the wind and rain. Not a bad day, but I’ll be happy when this storm passes and we have some sunshine again!

Photo: The few minutes the sun was out today

Hoping the weatherman is wrong...

They are threatening us with another winter storm here in Acton, CA; rain, thunderstorms, wind and possibly snow…. :o( Hopefully this forecast will be a weather forecasters mistake.

Besides walks and watching the Daytona 500 today, Ted & Laura invited us over. We had a nice time visiting and snacking.

We noticed that our neighbors had Washington plates on their truck and trailer. After talking to them we found out they also are from the Yakima Valley, about 45 miles west of where we used to live. Sometimes it can be such a small world.

Photos: Views of Soledad Canyon Preserve

Happy Valentine’s Day

The weather was much nicer on this Valentine’s Day, sunny and it got up in the low 50’s, definite improvement over yesterday! We were able to get out on some walks and see a little more of the park.

Laura stopped by with some fresh banana bread for us…very nice and yummy. She stayed to chat a while, we talked about RV’ing, RV’s and RV parks, pretty normal conversation for a couple of RV’ers! They have been having some trouble with their coach, the main slide is stuck so they are making their way up to Bend, OR to get it repaired.

Even though it is a bit chilly this evening Dave & I sat out by our campfire. It is a nice way to end the day, watching the sun slip behind the mountains and see the stars come out…very pleasant indeed.

Photos
Top: Chilly view this morning from Soledad Canyon Preserve near Acton, CA
Bottom: Our site here at Soledad Canyon
Video
Views from around the park taken Thursday 2/12/09

It just ain't right....

One of the main reasons to head south for the winter is to avoid cold inclement weather ….well this is what we had today:



Guess we get to have some winter after all.

If it wasn’t snowing it was raining today so our day was spent indoors, tv, computers, catching up the checkbook and bank statements, all those fun things you do when stuck inside. Tonight we went to the all you can eat pasta feed at the family lodge with Ted and Laura. It was fun…and it finally quit raining!

Photos
Top: hills around Soledad Canyon preserve yesterday
Bottom: hills around Soledad Canyon preserve today

Soledad Canyon

We are at the Soledad Canyon preserve just out of Acton, CA. After the drive through the southern California traffic Dave & I were happy to get here and relax a bit! Once we were set up and had some lunch we set out on a walk. We had gone just a few steps from our trailer when someone said; Hi Dave and Lori. It was Ted & Laura, a couple we met back in June at the Silver Spur RV Park in Silverton, OR. At the time we had been looking at Thousand Trails memberships and Ted & Laura were already members. It was talking to them that convinced us to finally join. Good to see them again!!

So far the park looks like another nice one. It is a bit cooler here, there is even snow on the hills around us. The temperatures are supposed to be in the high 40’s or low 50’s, a bit different than the warm weather we had in San Diego. Oh well, it is only February!

Photos - taken Feb 10 at the San Diego Zoo.
Top: Meerkat
Bottom: Koala Bear
Slide Show: also taken at the San Diego Zoo